Voices
by onesongofglory
Summary: Crutchy's starting to hear voices. And they aren't all good.
1. Good Morning!

_Ok... so feeling inspired by a wonderful, rather random, NML chat, here's what I came up with. Deal with it. Reviews make me happy! But then again, so does chocolate. So if I got both, I'd be like the happiest person evah!_

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I awoke to Kloppman calling my name to wake up. No matter how long I've been doing this, I'll never get used to waking up early to sell newspapers. It's hard on my leg. Damn thing. I curse it every day.

I struggle to get out of bed, my head not quite clear. I drank too much the night before. I should have never had that beer. I am going to quit drinking so much. Half a beer next time. That's my limit.

The other guys were all chattering around me. As much as a bunch of teenage boys could chatter so early in the morning. A couple mumble their good morning and whatnot as I hobbled my way to the washroom.

"Morning, Crutchy," a familiar voice greeted.

I grinned at Itey, who's washing his face next to me. "Morning! Sleep well?"

"Ooh! Look how cute he is in the morning!" a female voice whispered.

"Who said that?" I demanded. I wondered if Itey snuck a girl into the bunkroom last night.

"Said what?" Itey asked.

I glanced at him. "No-nothing. Nevermind." I put on a fake smile, hoping he would leave well enough alone.

He shrugged and returned to his task.

"Aw, his hair is so cute! I wanna touch it," the voice whispered again. It sounded so far away, but maybe it was just really quite. I couldn't tell.

I shook my head, hoping to clear it. 'Stupid beer,' I thought. 'My head is so foggy. I'm hearing voices.'

"Hey! Quit that! Are you trying to kill us?" a different voice, but also female, asked. She sounded quite irritated.

"You're not hearing voices because of the beer, although that would be cause for concern," a third female quipped.

The voices were getting louded. 'How many are there?' I wondered.

"Just three. I promise. There's Shoe, MG and me. Aki.' the third voice answered.

I froze. They could read my thoughts. My eyes grew wide and my mouth hung open. This wasn't right. No girl ever talks to me, now I have three conversating in my head. Maybe I'm going crazy. Yes. That's it. I am going crazy. I knew it only a matter of time.

"This is great. I'm stuck in Crutchy's head with Miss Perky and Miss Giggles. My life is now complete," came the sarcastic voice of the second female.

"Oh, hush, MG. You are just upset that you aren't in Skittery's head," the first one teased.

"Shoe, Morning Glory, that's enough. You're scaring the boy," Aki said.

"Aw, Aki! We weren't doin' nothin'," the one known as Shoe whined.

"Quit your whining. And your double negatives. It's annoying," Morning Glory, or MG, scolded.

Shoe sighed. "Fun sucker."

"Giggle stick."

"Party pooper!"

"Party thrower!"

"Deb- wait. What?"

"I don't know. I couldn't think of anything."

"Enough!" Aki yelled over the two.

"Sorry," they mumbled.

I didn't know what to do. The voices were very clear now. I snapped out of my daze and looked around. I was still at the sink and only Snipeshooter was left. Poor little guy. He was always the last one left.

"You okay, Crutchy?" he asked me. He had a funny look on his face. I imagined I look pretty odd standing at the sink with a dumbfound look on my face.

"Huh? Oh! Oh yea. I'm fine. Just a little tired. That's all," I lied. the fake smile was back in place. 'Only I'm going completely nuts.' I slowly made my way to the bunkroom to change.

"You're not going crazy! Geez, Crutchy! Get a grip. You're freaking out," MG said expasperated.

"What she means to say is you're fine. Just go about your day, and we won't bug you. If you need anything, just ask. Or think. Or something. Whatever," Aki trailed off.

Shoe giggled. "Carry the banner! Whoo!"

"Just don't shake or hit your head. You'll kill us," MG flatly asked.

I slowly got dressed, defeated. There wasn't going to be many papers left. I was going to lose money to day. Not like I didn't most days anyhow. 'I hope they aren't around long. How long are you gonna be in there?'

"Oh, could be hours. Could be years. Who knows," Shoe answered calmly.

I hobbled down and out of the lodging house and made my way towards the distribution center. Hopefully I can still get soem papers. 'Damnit.'

"Oh, he swore. Bad Crutchy. Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?" Aki scolded.

"You dolt! He doesn't have a mother!" MG shot back.

"Quiet! You're upsetting him. Poor, Crutchy. It's ok. Shoe's here for you," consoled Shoe.

I finally arrived at the distribution center. There were a couple of boys left, standing around and scanning the headlines. I made my way up to the window and ordered my usual twenty papers.

"How many did he get?" Shoe asked.

"Probably twenty. He probably can't sell that much," Aki answered.

"He should sell more! I know he can do it!" protested Shoe.

"Are you kidding me? No one buys from a crip. Most people think he's faking it anyhow. Besides, the headlines probably junk," MG retorted.

They continued to argue. I tried my best to ignore them, but it wasn't working so well. Oh well. I planned on talking to Jack next time I saw him. He would understand. He's a great leader like that. Until then, it was going to be a long day.


	2. Jack's Attacked

_**Ok... here's the deal... Thanks for the reviews... I don't own anyone... except me. So there... and yes... if you don't like it... tell me. Cause I wanna know. So there. WHOO! Here's to my girls. You know who you are.**_

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My stomach was growling loudly as I sold my last paper. The voices were still there, but were a lot quieter now. At least I don't have a horrible headache.

"As the voice of reason here, I would say you need some nutrition," Aki said. Voice of reason my foot.

"Good one, Sherlock. He never would have figured that one out," MG scoffed.

"Oh stuff it, MG. Just because you're crabby, doesn't mean the rest of us have to be."

Remember that headache I said I didn't have? Well, it just arrived. Damn girls. 'Will you two give it a rest? My head is going to split open," I thought angrily. They were really starting to annoy me.

"Of course they will, Crutchers. They will be more considerate of you as well. Won't you girls?" Shoe prodded, almost motherly.

"Sure."

"Whatever."

"Good. Now, on to food!" Shoe exclaimed.

The whole time I was alking towards Tibby's, where I hoped to find Jack, I was trying to ignore them. Unluckily for me, it wasn't working so well. Drat.

I opened the door, the bell rang, and I scanned the small restaurant for Jack. I found him sitting, no more like lounging, at a small table with Racetrack and Pie Eater. I limped over to him, smiling and putting up a "I'm-okay-it's-a-wonderful-day-don't-ask" front that nothing was wrong. "Heya, Jack? Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Jack nodded, his goofy grin still in place. "Sure thing. Have a seat," he answered, gesturing towards the only empty seat left at the table. Race and Pie took their cue and left, greedily clutching their food to their chests, making sure no one else snagged it.

I sat down, quite confused at how to go about this. I couldn't really put the words together and make it come out right. I sighed and decided to just say it. "Jack, I think- I think I'm starting to hear voices. In fact, I know I'm starting to hear voices. Three teenage girls. And they are really annoying me."

Jack's face paled. His eyes darted around quickly, to make sure no one was listening. He leaned across the table to me and motioned for me to come closer. I did so, waiting for him to say something. By this time, I knew he wasn't going to laugh at me.

"When did it start?" he asked, his voice quiet.

"This morning. When I woke up," I whispered back.

"Ooh! It's Jack! If Stress finds out we saw him, she'll be so jealous!" Shoe squealed.

"I don't like him. Never will," Aki said indignantly.

"Me either. For the first time today, I agree with Aki," MG replied.

"Psh. Stress will appreciate it. So there. Who asked you two anyhow?" Shoe said, brushing them off. I could only picture a two year old sticking her tongue out at her playmates.

Ignoring them, I continued on. "Well, Jack? Have any great ideas?" I couldn't help it, but I think I sounded a slight bit sarcastic with that question. If Jack caught it, then he didn't show it.

Jack shook his head. "I'm glad to know I'm not the only one! When I was in the washroom this morning, I started hearing this voice. And it's a girl. I figured I was going crazy from all that nagging and yipping Sarah does," he rambled.

'Great. Are you guys attacking him too?'

"No! And we aren't attacking! We're... visiting," Aki replied.

"How many are in your head?" I questioned, still whispering.

"Just one. Calls herself Stress. Keeps squealing on and on about marrying me or something. Half the time I can't understand her," Jack said, exasperated.

'Stress? Is she a friend of yours?' I thought to the girls.

"Ooh! Stressie! She's here? Where is she?" Shoe asked excitedly.

"Stressica? She's awesome," Aki mentioned.

I rolled my eyes. 'She's in Jack's head.'

"Figures. Girl always gets what's she wants," MG muttered.

"Well, tell him to think to her that we say hi," Shoe declared.

'Fine.' I sighed, knowing this was crazy. "Jack, this is going to sound insane, but here goes. Shoe, Aki, and MG tell Stress hi."

Jack sat there for a minute. 'Tell Stress that Shoe, Aki and MG say hi. Okay.'

"What? Where are they? They're in Crutchy's head, aren't they? Poor MG. I know she must be going crazy. And how did they end up there? And why all three? They are probably fighting. Or maybe MG is being an instigator. Ooh! I used a big word! Awesome. Wait 'till the others hear about this. I can't wait to tell them. You know who would absolutely die?" Stress rambled on, only to be inturrupted by Jack's thought of 'Shut up!'

"Hmhph," was all Stress could say.

"We need to figure out how to stop this," Jack whispered, leaning back finally, sounding kind of stressed.

I nodded my agreement.


	3. Encounters

That night, back at the lodging house, I was laying on my bunk trying to make sense of the whole day. It wasn't working so well, seeing as how any thought that passed through my head was critqued by them. 

'Can you three give it a rest? I want some peace and quiet for once today,' I thought angrily. I threw my arm over my eyes, quite exhausted from the whole day.

"Getting rid of us isn't that easy," MG snapped back.

"Oh, MG, don't be so harsh. He deserves a little peace and quiet. After all, he has been listening to us all day," Shoe said.

Mg grumbled incoherently, but didn't say anything more.

Aki sighed. "Alright. Quiet now."

'Thank you.' I sighed. Finally, some quiet. I replayed every movement of the whole day. Nothing was making sense. I wondered if Jack came up with any answers yet.

"Hey, Crutch. You okay?" a concerned voice asked.

I moved my arm to peer at the owner of the voice. It was Skittery. I assumed he had just bathed, his suspenders hanging down his sides and no shirt on. That and the wet hair was a huge clue. His head was cocked to the side as he stared down at me.

"I'm going to have a heart attack. Tell me I'm seeing things, just tell me I'm seeing things!" MG exclaimed.

I rolled my eyes. 'Great. You have the hots for Skittery, don't you?' I thought while saying, "Yeah. I'm fine."

"MG, calm down," Shoe replied.

"Nope. Not seeing things. It's a wonderfully, half naked Skittery," Aki commented. I could only picture those two drooling over him.

"Darnit! I can't touch him. Oh the things I would do to him," Glory continued.

"I don't believe this is Shoe-rated anymore," Shoe pointed out.

Aki laughed. "True. On both accounts," she said, referring to both Glory and Shoe's statements.

While all this was going on, Skittery just looked at me funny. "Okay. If you say so," he replied skeptically. He shook his head and walked away.

"No! Come back!" MG screamed.

I sat up, slapping a hand over my mouth. I couldn't have just said that. No way. Everyone was staring at me with disbelief and confusion. MG must have screamed so loud in my head, I must have yelled it too.

Skittery stopped and turned to face me. "What?" he asked, half confused half scared.

"Nothing," I squeaked. I reached for my crutch and started for the door. I knew all eyes were on me; I could feel their stares on my back.

"Good going, MG. Now you've made him look like a fool. Poor, Crutchy. He is probably embarrassed," Shoe declared.

"This is not my fault in anyway! I just wanted Skittery to came back so I could stare at the god-like figure," MG expressed dreamily.

Aki snickered. "But you screamed so loud that it came out of Crutchy's mouth."

'Thanks. Thanks a lot,' I thought to them, trying to hurry my way out of the lodging house. 'Great, now what am I supposed to do?"

"Find Jack. He'll know what to do," Shoe replied comfortingly.

'Oh yeah. Because he was such a help last time.'

"Well, maybe he came up with something?"

"Not likely with Stress up there," Aki joked.

'Well, at least there is only one of you in his head," I thought to them.

"Well, you're lucky it's us and not Stress," MG muttered.

'Fine, fine. Then where do you suggest I find him?'

"I don't know. Try the Jacobs' house. He's probably trying to get Sarah to-"

"MG! That's enough already!" Shoe interrupted.

"Okay you two, settle down. Let's just be quiet for a minute so Crutchy can figure this all out," Aki said.

I rolled my eyes. 'Oh, thanks so much,' I thought sarcastically.

"Everything is going to be fine, Crutchers. No worries," Shoe consoled.

'Right. No worries.' I sighed as I made my way slowly down the dark street. I sure hoped Jack was at Davey's. and I hoped to God he had figured something out.


	4. Let's take a Holiday

I had finally reached the apartment building of the Jacobs', my legs tired of walking. I stopped in front of it, my eyes staring upwards, and sighed. It was a long way up. 'I don't want to climb up those stairs.'

"Oh, it'll be okay, Crutchy! I know you can do it," Shoe supported.

I couldn't help but grin. Shoe was the only one out of the three that was the nicest. Not to mention the most supportive.

"Shoe, this isn't the Little Engine That Could," MG said. "Listen, Crutchy, I know you're tired and it is a long way up, but come on. That really is a lot of stairs."

Aki broke in, "Crutchy, I believe you can do it, but don't you think you may be a bit tired right now?"

I scowled. 'I can do this. I'll show you. And I'll be damned otherwise.' I took a deep breath and started up into the building.

"Honestly, you two, you have no faith in him. But I do. Go, Crutchy!" Shoe cheered.

My face was screwed into concentration. I was going to show those two doubting Thomases. I can do this. I was no different than anyone else, I just had a little extra support.

"Alright. But if he falls on his way up, I'm going to say I told you so," Aki replied.

'Oh, shut up. I'm going to do this. You'll see.' I heaved up the stairs, taking my time. No one said I had to run up them.

Finally, after a good five or ten minutes, I made it to the correct door. I was out of breath and tired, but I did it. 'See? I told you so,' I thought triumphantly.

"I knew you could. Good for you," MG commented calmly.

"MG, you said he wasn't going to!" Shoe shot back.

"Reverse psychology, dear Shoe. Aki was onto it," MG explained.

"Yep."

I rolled my eyes. "Good grief," I muttered as I brought my hand up to knock on the worn wooden door. However, before I could hit the door, it swung open. I was face to face with Mayor Jacobs.

"Hello there, son," he greeted, somewhat surprised. "Can I help you?" He opened the door wider for me to enter.

I grinned at him, hobbling inside. "I was just wondering if David was here, sir." My eyes roamed the tiny apartment, praying he was there and I didn't go up those stairs for nothing.

"Yes. He's out on the fire escape with Jack," he answered kindly. "Have a good night." He smiled and shut the door behind him as he left.

I slowly but surely made my way to the window, sticking my head out. "David? Jack?" I called meekly, hoping I wasn't interrupting anything.

The pair was leaning against the railing, staring into the alley below. Their whispers ceased, and they both faced me, upon hearing my voice. They nodded their hellos.

I swallowed, all of a sudden nervous. "Hello. I need to speak with Jack. Alone, if you don't mind." I blinked, wondering if David was suspicious of anything. Although, I could tell by the look on his face that he was.

Jack stared at me intently, his face very serious. Something was wrong. "He knows," he replied. He crossed his arms and jerked his head towards David. "He's got one too."

I could feel my jaw drop. David? It was happening to him too? 'Who's bugging him? Which one of you psychos?'

"May I remind you that you three are the ones hearing voices? Not us," MG pointed out.

"We don't know. Honest," Shoe responded, ignoring MG. "Ask who it is."

I sighed. "Who's there?" I glanced at David questioningly.

"She calls herself Holiday. I don't know much else. Oh, and she claims to be in love with Bumlets." David shrugged. 'Only claims.'

"What are you talking about?" Holiday demanded.

'Nothing! I swear,' David thought back.

"Uh-huh. I'm so sure." She sighed. "I miss everything."

Meanwhile, as David conversed silently with Holiday, I was having a thought discussion with my own voices. 'Holiday. Ring a bell?'

"Holiday! My love! Aw… I miss her," Aki squealed, causing me to wince.

'Could you keep it down next time? Geez.'

"Sorry."

I was still hanging out the window, staring at the two. "They all know each other. This isn't right."

Jack and David nodded in agreement. "This has to be stopped. And fast," noted Jack. 'Who knows how many more of us are infected.'

"Infected? With what? Are you going to die? You can't die. I haven't even talked to Holiday yet. Ooh… let's take a holiday, Jack. You really need one. You know where a good place would be? Hawaii. I hear it's real nice there. Forget Santa Fe! Speaking of, do you know the way to San Jose?" Stress rambled.

Jack groaned. "I mean fast."


End file.
